Decorative hanging wastebasket

ABSTRACT

An apparatus for securing a storage unit having a holder for securing a storage unit to a surface and a cover attached to the holder is provided. The cover is sized to conceal in whole or in part the storage unit. A method is also provided for securing a storage unit to a surface and concealing in whole or in part the storage unit.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

[0001] This application claims priority to U.S. Provisional ApplicationSerial No. 60/451,739, filed on Mar. 4, 2003, which is incorporatedherein by reference.

FIELD OF INVENTION

[0002] The invention generally relates to a basket holder and moreparticularly, to a decorative hanging wastebasket.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

[0003] A wastebasket can be an important and useful accessory to a room,particularly to a room in a juvenile environment, such as a toddler'sroom. A typical wastebasket, according to existing approaches, islocated on a floor. However, such existing approaches can pose problemsbecause they may allow undesired access to the wastebasket, for example,by a child. Existing wastebaskets may undesirably allow a child, such asa toddler, to dispose of valuable items or other items not intended fora wastebasket, for example. As another example, such existingwastebaskets may undesirably allow a child to retrieve items from thewastebasket.

[0004] Based on the foregoing, there is a need in the art for a newwastebasket that can be located in a room or other environment out ofthe unintended reach and/or access of, for example, a child.Furthermore, there is a need in the art for such a new wastebasket to beable to accept the attachment of a decorative cover, which may, forexample, match the décor of a child's room or other environment.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

[0005] In accordance with the invention, there is provided an apparatusincluding a holder for securing a storage unit to a surface and a coverattached to the holder, wherein the cover is sized to conceal in wholeor in part the storage unit. There is further provided a method forsecuring a storage unit to a surface and concealing in whole or in partthe storage unit.

[0006] These and other aspects of the invention will be describedfurther in the detailed description below in connection with thedrawings and the claims. Both the foregoing general description and thefollowing detailed description are exemplary and explanatory only andare not restrictive of the invention, as claimed.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0007]FIG. 1 is a perspective view of an exemplary embodiment of abasket holder consistent with the present invention.

[0008]FIG. 2 is a perspective view of an exemplary embodiment of therear of the exemplary basket holder of FIG. 1.

[0009]FIG. 3 is a perspective view of another exemplary embodiment ofthe rear of a basket holder consistent with the present invention.

[0010]FIG. 4 is an exemplary front elevation view of the exemplarybasket holder of FIG. 3.

[0011]FIG. 5 is an exemplary side elevation view of the exemplary basketholder of FIG. 3.

[0012]FIG. 6 is a top plan view of the exemplary basket holder of FIG.3.

[0013]FIG. 7 is a perspective view of another exemplary embodiment of abasket holder consistent with the present invention.

[0014]FIG. 8 is a perspective view another exemplary embodiment of abasket holder consistent with the present invention.

DESCRIPTION OF THE EMBODIMENTS

[0015] Referring now to the drawings, in which like numerals representlike elements throughout the several figures, exemplary embodiments ofthe present invention will be described. Exemplary embodiments of thepresent invention are directed to a decorative hanging wastebasket,which may be useful in a juvenile environment, such as a toddler's room.In contrast to a typical wastebasket that is located on a floor,exemplary embodiments of the present invention can provide a wastebasketthat children may not reach and that attaches to a wall or othersurface. For example, exemplary embodiments of the decorative hangingwastebasket may be affixed to a wall or other surface by using any meansknown to those of ordinary skill in the art. Apparatuses and methods forattaching items to a wall or other surface are well known to those ofordinary skill in the art.

[0016] Exemplary embodiments of the decorative hanging wastebasket mayhave three (3) main parts: a basket holder, a decorative cover, and awastebasket. The basket holder can be any apparatus that hold awastebasket or other storage unit. The decorative cover can be anyapparatus that conceals in whole or in part the wastebasket. Thewastebasket may be any apparatus for disposing of items or for storageof items. Each of these components will be discussed in detail below.

[0017]FIG. 1 illustrates an exemplary embodiment of a decorative hangingwastebasket 100 including an exemplary basket holder 110, an exemplarydecorative cover 120, and an exemplary wastebasket 130.

[0018] Generally, the basket holder 110 may be the centerpiece thatholds the product together. The basket holder 110 may be made with anysuitable materials such as plastic, metal, aluminum, steel, wood, or anycombination of the foregoing, for example. In one embodiment, the basketholder 110 may be made of a deformable material to form it in manydifferent shapes based, for example, on the shape of the wastebasket.The basket holder 110 may be made in various colors. The basket holder110 may be in any shape or style such as rounded, rounded rectangle,square, box, trapezoid, circle, oval, can, hexagon, cub, or any othershape or style.

[0019] In one embodiment, as shown in FIG. 2, the basket holder 110 mayinclude a plate 210, a ring piece 220, and a first mounting piece 230.The plate 210, ring piece 220, and first mounting piece 230 may bedetachable from the basket holder 110. For example, the first mountingpiece 230 may be detachable from the ring piece 230. This may be usefulto replace one mounting piece with a different mounting piece based, forexample, on the second mounting piece 240 of the decorative cover 120,discussed below. Alternatively, the basket holder 110 may be oneintegral piece (i.e., undetachable).

[0020] The plate 210 may have one or more small holes 250 for screws orother mounting objects to fit in order for the basket holder 110 to beattached to a wall or other surface. Alternatively, the plate 210 may beattached to the wall or other surface using an adhesive material, forexample. The ring piece 220 may be in a shape that allows a wastebasket130 to fit evenly and securely into it. Spacers may also be used to helpsecurely fit a wastebasket 130 in the ring piece 220. The first mountingpiece 230 may be made of any material, such as plastic, metal, velcro,aluminum, steel, any combination of the foregoing, or any other type ofmaterial including any rigid material. The first mounting piece 230 canbe used to connect with, fit in, or attach to the second mounting piece240 of the decorative cover 120. The first mounting piece 230 may alsosecurely connect the decorative cover 120 to the basket holder 110.

[0021] Returning to FIG. 1, the decorative cover 120 may be a size thatcovers both the basket holder 110 and the wastebasket 130. Thedecorative cover 120 may be any shape such as a circle, square, oval,bevel, cub, can, box, square, plaque, diamond, rectangle, roundedrectangle, trapezoid, octagon, hexagon, pentagon, heart, or any othershape. The decorative cover 120 may be in various colors includingblues, reds, yellows, white, purple, green, pastel colors, or any othercolor and may be used to complement a juvenile environment or any otherenvironment. The decorative cover 120 may have any theme in any form,such as sports, bear, flower, butterfly, fish, smiley face, star,ballerina, heart, car, cheerleader, train or alphabets. The decorativecover 120 may be made of any material such as plastic, aluminum, steel,wood, or any combination of the foregoing.

[0022] In one embodiment, as shown in FIG. 2, the decorative cover 120may have a second mounting piece 240 that fits securely into the firstmounting piece 230 of the basket holder 110. The second mounting piece240 may be made of any material such as plastic, metal, velcro,aluminum, steel, wood, any combination of the foregoing, or any othertype of material including any rigid material. The second mounting piece240 may be detachable from the decorative cover 120. This may be usefulto replace one mounting piece with a different mounting piece based, forexample, on the mounting piece 230 of the basket holder 110.Alternatively, the decorative cover 120 and the second mounting piece240 may be one integral piece.

[0023]FIG. 3 illustrates an alternate exemplary embodiment of a firstmounting piece 230′ of the basket holder 110 and a second mounting piece240′ of the decorative cover 120. As shown in FIG. 3, the first mountingpiece 230′ has a slot 235 for receiving the second mounting piece 240′.The slot 235 and the second mounting piece 240′ may be of any suitableshape to securely attach the basket holder 110 and the decorative cover120.

[0024] The wastebasket 130 may be used for disposing of items or forstorage of items. The wastebasket 130 may be in any color, such as whiteor pastels and may be made of any material, such as plastic, aluminum,wood, any combination of the foregoing, or any other type of materialincluding any rigid or semi-rigid material, for example. The wastebasket130 may be in any shape such as rounded, rounded rectangle, square, box,trapezoid, circle, oval, can, hexagon, cub, or any other shape. Forexample, the wastebasket may be a net for storing toys. As shown inFIGS. 1, 4. and 5, for example, the wastebasket 130 may fit securelyinto the basket holder 110 and may be lifted up and out for easydisposing of waste and then placed back into the basket holder 110securely.

[0025] Other embodiments of the invention will be apparent to thoseskilled in the art from consideration of the above description andpractice of the invention disclosed herein. For example, the decorativecover 120 and the basket holder 110 may be one integral unit. As anotherexample, instead of a basket holder 110, there may be provided awastebasket 130 including a first mounting piece that is attachable tothe wall and a second mounting piece that is attachable to thedecorative cover 120.

[0026] As another example, as shown in FIG. 7, the basket holder 110 inFIG. 1 may be replaced with a basket platform 710 on which thewastebasket 130 sits. As shown in FIG. 7, the basket platform 710 mayextend from the wall and connect with the decorative cover 120. Thebasket platform 710 platform may be detachable or undetachable from thedecorative cover 120. The basket platform 710 may be attached to thewall using a plate 720. The basket platform 710 may be attached to thedecorative cover 120 using a mounting piece 730. Other apparatuses andmethods for attaching the basket platform 710 to the wall and thedecorative cover 120 are known to those of ordinary skill in the art.Additionally, as shown in FIG. 7, one or more fencers 740 may extendfrom the decorative cover 120 or mounting piece 730 to prevent thewastebasket 130 from falling off the basket platform 710. In oneembodiment, the fencers 740 may extend from the decorative cover 120 ormounting piece 730 to the wall. In one embodiment, the fencers 740 mayattach to the wall. A fencer 740 may be in any shape or size and isgenerally defined as any apparatus or part thereof for preventing awastebasket 130 from falling off a wastebasket platform 710. FIG. 8illustrates an example of fencers 740 that are side panels that extendto completely cover the wastebasket. This may be advantageous to concealthe wastebasket 130 when the decorative hanging wastebasket 100 isviewed from the side.

[0027] Although exemplary embodiments of the present invention have beengenerally described based on the use in a room or other environment outof the unintended reach and/or access of, for example, a child, thereare many and varied uses of a decorative hanging wastebasket. Forexample, a decorative hanging wastebasket may be used in anyenvironment, such as a commercial, retail, business, or any otherenvironment for any purpose.

[0028] It is intended that the specification and examples be consideredas exemplary only, with a true scope and spirit of the invention beingindicated by the following claims.

[0029] Various modifications and additional embodiments of the presentinvention will become apparent to those skilled in the art based on theabove discussion of exemplary embodiments of the present invention. Itshould be understood that the invention is not limited to the specificexemplary embodiments disclosed herein and that modifications andadditional embodiments of the present invention may be obtained withoutdeparting from its spirit and scope as set forth in the appended claimsand equivalences thereof. All such modifications and additionalembodiments are intended to be included within the scope of the appendedclaims.

What is claimed is:
 1. An apparatus for securing a storage unit,comprising: a holder for securing a storage unit to a surface; a coverattached to the holder, wherein the cover is sized to conceal in wholeor in part the storage unit.
 2. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein theholder comprises: a plate that attaches to the surface; a ring pieceattached to the plate that receives the storage unit and holds thestorage unit in place; and a first mounting piece attached to the ringpiece.
 3. The apparatus of claim 2, wherein any combination of theplate, the ring piece, and the first mounting piece are detachable. 4.The apparatus of claim 2, wherein the cover comprises a second mountingpiece connected to the first mounting piece.
 5. The apparatus of claim4, wherein the second mounting piece is detachable from the firstmounting piece.
 6. The apparatus of claim 4, wherein the second mountingpiece is detachable from the cover.
 7. The apparatus of claim 2, whereinthe cover comprises a second mounting piece and wherein the firstmounting piece comprises a slot for receiving the second mounting piece.8. The apparatus of claim 7, wherein the second mounting piece isdetachable from the cover.
 9. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein theholder comprises: a plate that attaches to the surface; and a platformon which the storage unit sits, wherein the platform is attached to theplate.
 10. The apparatus of claim 8, further comprising: at least onefencer to prevent the storage unit from falling off the platform.
 11. Anapparatus comprising: a storage unit having a first and a secondmounting piece, wherein the first mounting piece connects to a surface;and a cover, wherein the second mounting piece connects to the cover.12. An apparatus comprising: means for securing a storage unit to asurface; and means for concealing in whole or in part means for hanging.13. A method comprising: securing a storage unit to a surface; andconcealing in whole or in part the storage unit.
 14. The method of claim12 wherein a wastebasket is secured on a wall.